Vehicle



(No Model.)

W. J. DAWSON.

Vehicle.

No. 233,480. Patented Oct. 19, 1880.

I 2.4 I 144% m..- Mum" INVENTOR:

ATTORNEYS.

N.PE\'ER8, PIIOTO-LITNOGRAPNER, WASHINGTON. n c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM J. DAWSON, OF LAWRENCE, KANSAS.

VEHICLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 233,480, dated October19, 1880.

Application filed August 10, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM J. DAWSON, of Lawrence, in the county ofDouglas and State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Vehicles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact'description of the same.

Wagon-bodies have been so connected with the front running-gear as topermit independent lateral oscillation of the bodies. My invention is animprovement in this line; and it consists in connecting such parts bymeans of jointed bolts arranged in line with the lengthwise center ofthe body, so that it is relieved of torsional strain.

The details of construction and arrangement of parts are as hereinafterdescribed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figurel is a front view of a wagon-body and my improvement in front couplingor running-gear. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal vertical section ofthe same. Fig. 3 is awjplan view of the parts constituting theimjiiroved coupling, the wagonbody being detached.

The front end of the wagon-body A rests on two bolsters, B B, which arearranged parallel and connected by a cross-piece, G, the whole forming'an H-shaped frame. A like frame, D E E, is attached to the uppercircle, G, of the fifth-wheel. The lower circle, I, of the latter isattached to the platform or frame J in the usual way. These two H-shaped frames are arranged coincidently, one above the other, and areconnected by three jointed couplings-to wit, the shackle or king-bolt Kand eyebolts L L. Each of these couplings is formed of two parts, whichare pivoted or hinged together, one part of each being attached to thebolster-frame B O and the other to the fifth-wheel frame D E.

The king-bolt proper passes through the cross-bar of the fifth-wheel andalso through the platform or frame J, and thus serves as a pivot onwhich the front running-gear is free to oscillate or turn horizontally.The upper (No model.)

part of the king-bolt passes through the bolster cross-piece O, and isjointed so as to allow lateral oscillation of the parts it connects.

The eyebolts L L are arranged in a right line with the king-bolt K, onein front and the other in rear, and all three are placed in line withthe longitudinal center of the wagonbody.

By this construction and arrangement of parts the front axle orrunning-gear is allowed to oscillate laterally in a vertical planeindependently of the wagon -body B. In other words, the front end of thelatter will rock on the jointed couplings K L, and is subjected to notorsional strain,while the running-gear assumes various lateralinclinations in consequence of one of the front wheels rising higher orsinking lower than the other by passing over stones or knolls, &c., orthrough cavities or depressions in the track, whereas in the ordinarymode of coupling the front runninggear to a wagon-body, the lateralinclination of the front axle involves a corresponding torsion of thebody,which may endanger the safety of the vehicle, and in any eventlessens its durability.

My invention is applicable to various forms of wheeled vehicles, also totraverse or jumper sleighs or sleds.

What I claim as new is.

1. The combination, with the wagon-body A and fifth-wheel and platform,of the jointed king-bolts and eyebolts, arranged in line with thelongitudinal center of the body, as shown and described, for the purposespecified.

2. The combination ot the H shaped bolsterframe and like shaped portionof the fifthwheel, the platform and wagon-body, and the jointed pivot orkin g-bolt and jointed eyebolts attached to said frames, and arranged tooperate as shown and described.

WILLIAM J. DAWSON.

Witnesses:

H. J. SNYDER, D. A. MILLER.

